australia's endemic species

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Researched and presented by 9 HSIE I at Braidwood Central School February 2012 ADAPTATIONS OF AUSTRALIA’S ENDEMIC FLORA AND FAUNA

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Page 1: Australia's Endemic Species

Researched and presented by 9 HSIE I at Braidwood Central School

February 2012

ADAPTATIONS OF AUSTRALIA’S ENDEMIC FLORA AND FAUNA

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By Forbes

AUSTRALIAENDEMIC FLORA AND FAUNA

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Echidnas the short beaked echidna is a native animal to Australia. An echidna is an animal that burrows . When the animal is attacked it will burrow into the ground with is long sharp claws or by curling itself into a ball and use its spines as defence. The spines are venomous. Echidnas will usually weigh around two to seven kilograms and be around 35 to 50 centimetres long . They find food with their very sensitive nose and then they use their long sticky tong to catch ants, worms and other such insects.

The adoptions of the echidna include all of the physical aspect of the animal. But this is not the only adaption they have adapted to the climate by going into hibernation during the winter months to save energy and to reduce metabolism before it heats up to bread. Another adaption is that when they are threatened they will quickly burro and curl into a ball, they also use their sharp claws to quickly burrow deep into the ground. As the echidna needs to survive under the ground it can tolerate high levels of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen. The echidna can’t handle the heat well, without the ability to sweat so it tends to avoid daytime activity in heat. The echidna can also swim. The snout has electroreceptor's that help detect what is around.

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BANKSIA NUTANSBanksia Nutans is a small shrub which grows up to two metres tall, the leaves are short & narrow growing up to 22 mm long. IN winter and summer they flower out a large cylindrical shaped flower about 7cm wide The flower are a dull pink in bud but open into a rusty brown colour.

The Banksia Nutan has a number of adoptions that have allowed the wonderful plant to survive the vast Australian landscape and weather conditions. E.G poor soil, dry, high rates of seed predation (seed predators use the seeds of a plant as their exclusive food source),low rates of seed set & low rates of seedling survival. These adaptations include proteoid roots (a very thick cluster of roots) & lignotubers (to ensure effective pollen transfer and the release of seed in response to bushfire)

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The DingoBy Catherine

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A dingo is a wild dog, found only in Australia.

The only state in Australia where there aren’t dingos is Tasmania.

Dingos are medium sized with a bushy tail and a reddy, yellow coat.

They don’t have a bark but they do howl.

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Agonis

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Agonis is a type of plant; all of it is endemic to Western Australia, with the majority growing on the south west.

Agonis grow as tall as most small shrubs.

Usually Agonis has dark brown bark, dull green leaves and small white flowers.

When the leaves are torn or crushed they give off the scent of peppermint.

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Endemic Plants and

Animals Yr.9 HSIE

By: Nika Cuevas

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ENDEMIC PLANTS

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What is an endemic plant?

An endemic plant is a plant that occurs

naturally in one place and nowhere else.

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Endemic plants of Tasmania...

Tasmania has high number of endemic plants. Up to 70% of Tasmania’s alpine

plants are endemic, occurring naturally in Australia. “Climbing Heat” is one of Tasmania’s endemic alpine plant.

Why are they Unique?Because over a million of years ago the

plants of Tasmania have changed from their mainland relatives and the history of this

change has a lot to do with changes in the landscape.

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Climbing HeathO Climbing heath is common in the

rainforests of the west and south-west of Tasmania, usually in montane areas and also happens in alpine vegetation.

O It is a climbing plant , often seen around the trunks of trees.

O It has relatively large and beautiful pink bell shaped flowers from November to April.

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Endemic Animals

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Australia’s endemic animals…

O The most species that is endemic to Australia are the marsupial fauna.

O Marsupial are mammals with a different lineage and anatomical differences from placental mammals.

O They have a lower body temperature, early birth, lack of placental and different sexual organs.

O 224 marsupial species endemic to Australia. Marsupials have entirely displaced placental within Australia.

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The Dugong...O Dugong is a large marine mammal,

it’s one of the four living species of the order Serenia.

O The majority of dugong lives in the northern waters of Australia.

O Dugongs are found in warm coastal water and it’s lifespan is 70years old and slow rate of reproduction, the dugong is especially vulnerable to extinction.

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Why are they unique?O There are thousands of species

endemic to Australia.O Australia has been isolated from

other continents since it splits from Antarctica about 40 millions years ago.

O This can be recognized to the geographical isolation of the continent.

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Australia’s Endemic Wildlife

By Mya

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Red Kangaroo

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Red kangaroos live in Australia's deserts and open grasslands and gather in groups called mobs. Millions of these animals roam Australia, and considerable numbers are killed each year for their skins and meat, which is becoming a more popular human food.

The red kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest Australian native animal and the largest surviving marsupial. Red kangaroos hop on their powerful hind legs at great speed. A red kangaroo can reach speeds of over 56 kilometres an hour. They are able to cover 8 meters in a single leap and can jump 1.8 meters high. Female red kangaroos are smaller and lighter than the males. This allows them to travel faster.

When the Red Kangaroo is first born it is about the same size as a cherry.it immediately climbs into its mothers pouch and stays there until is about 8 months of age when it is then able to survive on its own.

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Eucalyptus

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Eucalyptus belongs to the myrtle plant family. There are over 700 different types of Eucalyptus. It is mostly native to Australia however small amounts of it can be found in New Guinea and Indonesia and one, the eucalyptus deglupta, is found in the Philippines. Only 15 types are found outside of Australia and only 9 types are not found within Australia.

Many Eucalypts are known as gum trees because of the copious sap that many exude from the break in there bark.

A mature Eucalyptus tree can be a take the form of a small shrub or a tall tree.

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Scrub BirdBy Yasmeen

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Scrub birds are cautious, private, ground dwelling birds that are very rare and native to Australia.

There are only two species; The Rufous scrub bird, which is rare and very restricted in its area, and the noisy scrub bird which is so rare it was thought to be extinct until 1961.

These birds are closely related to the lyrebird, and probably also the bowerbird and treecreepers.

These birds all originated from the Australia-New Guinea region.

There are now about 1,200 birds known in 2002, which is a dramatic improvement since the 1960s’ when there were only 40-50 birds.

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The birds are roughly 20cm long and coloured in varying browns and blacks.

They live in dense undergrowth, the Rufous scrub bird in temperate rain forests near the Queensland-New South Wales border, and the Noisy scrub bird in heaths and scrubby gullies in coastal Western Australia.

They are very good at scuttling mouse-like under cover to avoid any notice.

Even though they run fast, they cannot fly very well. The male birds call however is a really loud ringing noise

which is so loud you can hear it from a long distance in heavy scrub and is almost painful at close range.

The female birds build a domed nest on the ground and are responsible for caring for the young.

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Hakea FlowerBy Yasmeen

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The Hakea flower species is named after Baron Christian Ludwig von Hake a German patron of botany.

The flowers are quite small but they create clusters which can consist of perhaps 100 or more individual flowers in some species.

Many of the flowers have stiff leaves with sharp points and the flowers look a bit like banksias. These sharp leaves are ideal as a boundary where they can restrict access to bird from animals such as cats.

The Hakea generally blooms in winter and spring. The seeds of the bush have a papery wing which

enables them to be distributed by wind.

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The plants that are native to areas in Australia which are prone to fires often have a thing called a ‘lignotuber’, which is a woody swelling below the ground that can help the plant to regenerate if the above ground parts are destroyed.

Most Hakea are small shrubs but some can become a small tree.

The species is rather undesirable and because of that there are no real cultivators or breeders for the plants, so they just grow wild.

One of the great things about the plant is that many attract honey eating birds which can pollinate the plants.

These species of plants regularly rely on many things to pollinate them, such as beetles, moths, bees, ants and even some small marsupials.

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Endemic Plants and Animals

H.S.I.EBy Elessa Donnelly

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Endemic Plants

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What does Endemic mean?

• Ecology Native to or confined to a certain region.

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Endemic Plants of Australia

Callistemon• The Callistemon distribution

is in NSW, Vic and southern Queensland.

• It is usually found in swampy or wet conditions.

• There family name I Myrtaceae

Stypandra

• The Stypadra distribution is in Southern Australia.

• It’s common name is Nodding blue lilly.

• I’s not considered to be at risk in the wild.

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Endemic Animals

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Endemic Animals

Kangaroo• A Kangaroo is a marsupial

and they are the largest animal of it’s species.

• Kangaroos were found here by the first settlers who had no idea what they were.

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Why are they different?

• They are unique because Australia is its own country and Australia is isolated from any other country.

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The Lyrebirds are large passerine birds. They live in the ground they have strong legs and

feet and has short rounded wings.

LYREBIRDBy David

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The Lyrebird is found in areas where there are rainforest in Victoria, New South Wales and

south-east Queensland, as well as in Tasmania where it was introduced in the 19th century.

THE LYREBIRDS HABITAT

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Lyrebirds are shy and difficult to approach, which is why there is little information about its behaviour. When lyrebirds detect potential danger they will pause and scan their surroundings, then give an alarm call. Having done so, they will either flee the vicinity on foot, or seek cover and freeze.

THE LYREBIRDS BEHAVIOR

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The bat leaved flower is a fast growing plant that has dark green leaves that look like

bats. It also has purple fruit that could be used for ornaments.

Bat-Leaved Passion FlowerBy David

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Thylacinus cynocephalus(Tasmanian tiger)

By Bianca

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ADAPTIONS ABOUT THE TASMANIAN TIGER

The Tasmanian tiger is inaccurate of two kinds of animals; the first marsupial pouch-bearing mammal wasn’t related to tigers but it is more related to the scaled down wolf.

The Tasmanian tiger was thought to be extinct about 40,000 years ago but was found a few years ago in a forest land but it is now extinct.

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FACTS ABOUT THE TASMANIAN TIGERThylacinus cynocephalus is Greek for dog

headed pouched one.Was the largest carnivorous marsupial of

modern times.Became really rare and thought to be extinct

when the European settlement began. The intensive hunting is blamed for the

extinction of the tigers.

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Flora and Fauna

Endemic To AustraliaThe Bilby and Desert SpinifexInga Neilsen 9I HSIE – Ms Williams

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The Bilby

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The Features of a Bilby:• Large Ears: These enable the Bilby to

have a fantastic sense of hearing as their eyesight is very poor. The ears are also used to cool down the Bilby during the day and keeps them warm at night, the blood rushes quickly to the thin tissue around the ears.

• Sharp Claws: To dig through the soil for insects and to loosen plants from the soil to eat.

• Long Tongue: To help, when feeding on Fungi and insect larvae

• Backwards Facing Pouch: To prevent female bilbies from getting dirt into their pouch whilst digging.

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• Water: The Bilby doesn’t need to drink water, it absorbs enough from the food it eats.

• Long Snout: This long snout and great sense of smell helps it to dig through the soil to find prey.

• Reproduction: A Bilby is only carried in the womb for fourteen days.

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Adaptions of a BilbyThe Bilby has adapted to its harsh environment of the desert, these adaptions have become some of the bilbies main features:• They are a nocturnal species, which allow them to

be awake and hunt in the cooler hours of the day.• Large Ears• Sharp Claws• Backwards Facing Pouch• Long snout• Water Needs• Reproduction

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The Spinifex Grass

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Features of the Spinifex Grass

• Waxy Cuticles: This makes the outside of the leaf hard and waxy to reduce the amount of transpiration.

• Elongated Leaves: The leaves of the spinifex grass are long and narrow and don’t have much surface area – this is also to reduce the amount of transpiration.

• Shallow Roots: The roots are shallow (close to the top of the soil) and are very long – to cover a long surface area, so that when it does rain it can absorb the majority of it.

• Seeds: Spinifex grass can last a long time without water or nutrients, they just remain dormant, although if they do die seeds are left behind and once it does rain; they grow very rapidly.

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Adaptions of the Spinifex Grass

As the Spinifex plant lives in tough conditions in the deserts of central Australia, it has made adaptions which have also become some of it’s main features; These include:

• Waxy Cuticles• Elongated Leaves• Shallow roots• Seeds • Tough, long lasting